Newswire - International

Cricket Canada's selection panel has bolstered coach Michael Dighton's T20 team with the addition of Zubin Sukari and Kushroo Wadia. Both players will join the squad immediately and will be in contention for spots in Canada's upcoming trip to India.
Canada is set to announce its touring squad next week in Toronto.

Canada will look to build on their win over 2010 ECB T20 champion's Hampshire when the 2011-2012 Carribean T20 tournament gets underway January 9th in Trinidad.

Netherlands and Sussex will feature in the 2011-12 Caribbean T20, while Canada will play in the tournament for a third consecutive year. Hampshire and Somerset, who played in the last edition, will not take part this time, with Netherlands and Sussex replacing them to make up three foreign teams that will compete with the seven Caribbean teams

Coach Michael Dighton has the pieces to his T20 puzzle as the selectors have named the T20 squad for the next several months. The squad started training in Toronto on Monday and are expected to carry through until the conclusion of the T20 Cricket World Cup Qualification tourament in Dubai in March.

After a successful foray into the IPL, Sportnet is back in the sport of Cricket in signing a massive deal to bring Candian cricket fans the next four years of ICC events, culminating in the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015. The 2013 CWCQ has also been listed as a broadcast even though details have not yet been made available as of yet.

Should Canada make it to the 2015 event or the 2012 T20 CWC in Sri Lanka, fans will be able to follow our team on cable via the Sportsnet suite of channels or on their mobile phones. Cricket Canada Vice President Ravin Moorthy was pleased with the announcement saying "This (deal) is further recognition of how big cricket has become in Canada. Having one of the biggest names in Canadian sports involved with cricket is great news for fans and players as well as the overall visibility of the game in Canada"

Sportsnet World is now home to the International Cricket Council’s biggest events, as Sportsnet today announced a new four-year agreement with ESPN STAR Sports, Asia’s No. 1 sports content provider, for all ICC events through 2015 on multiple Sportsnet platforms. The exclusive Canadian media agreement includes eight major international tournaments, leading up to the world’s premiere cricket event – the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

With this new agreement, Sportsnet World becomes the ultimate destination for cricket fans, complementing its extensive coverage of Indian Premier League matches.

All eight ICC events will be aired on Sportsnet World, plus additional coverage on Sportsnet. Sportsnet Mobile and sportsnet.ca will also offer coverage.

“Our new partnership with the ICC and ESPN STAR Sports strengthens our hold on cricket across the country and is a great addition for Sportsnet World," said Navaid Mansuri, Vice-President of Finance & Sports Programming, Rogers Media. “Fans in Canada now have access to more cricket coverage than ever before.”

Anurag Dahiya, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development and Cricket Rights, said, “We are very pleased to partner with Sportsnet as we continue to work towards giving the largest exposure to ICC events. The recent ICC Cricket World Cup was showcased in more than 180 territories across the globe and we are committed to further build on its reach.”

By popular demand, Sorrkam.tv is rebroadcasting the epic battle from the Etihad Summer Festibal between Canada and Afghanistan. Watch the down to the wire finish featuring heroics from Hamza Tariq and Hiral Patel in both innings to swing the game CAnada's way. Tune in below to watch this match and don't forget Saturday the series for national bragging rights, BC vs. Ontario best of 3 T20's to determine the national T20 champion's will be shown live here on www.gocricketgocanada.com

Cricket Canada...the innovators in Associate webcasts of Cricket are pleased to partner with Sorkkam to bring you this event.

Cricket Canada and Quipu.TV are pleased to provide LIVE STREAMING of Canada's ODI series vs Ireland. Tune in Monday September 19th & Tuesday September 20th at 5:30AM EDT for complete coverage of the matches.

DAY 2 of Canada's Intercontinental Cup fixture with Ireland is underway from Observatory Lane in Dublin.

Canada did well to scuttle the balance of the Irish innings for a paltry 27 behind the bowling of Khurram Chohan (4-101) and Manny Aulakh (3-94), who both grabbed a piece of the morning's action.

In their 1st innings response, Canada came out agressively with Ruvindu Gunasekera (66) taking iniative over an Irish bowling attack that will miss the veteran leadership of the cagy Trent Johnston.

The innings however belonged to Irish spinners as Alberta van der Merwe (5-70) and George Dockrell (2-60) combined with seamer John Mooney (2-28) to rattle the Canadian batting to 194 all out.

Canada followed on and after a steady start, wickets began to tumble. Rizwan Cheema did set the Dublin sky ablaze wtih a scintilating half century scoring 97 (45 balls | 10 sixes). Cheema's extraordinary innings ended with Boom Boom short of a century but he very clearly announced that he is back and a force to be reckoned with. Cheema's departure spelt the end for any Canadian resistance as they were bundled out for 257, some 11 runs adrift of the target.

Despite the dissapointing outcome, Canada takes a measure of confidence into the coming ODI's .

Speaking from Toronto, President Ranjit Saini spoke about the loss

"We were of course all dissapointed with the outcome today but take solace that the dissapointment comes from the passion to win not only in our players but our administratiors and fans across the globe. Year's of neglect of our domestic system have put us into an unenviable position and while we move to correct this deficiency, we will continue to breed our young players into our team. We expect uneven outcomes but know that the path we are on will lead to greater successes in the future.

we are proud of the fight and determination our boys showed today and expect the same next week in the ODI's."

Canada's Intercontinental Cup fixture with Ireland is underway from Observatory Lane in Dublin.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, an agressive stand by Irish openers Paul Stirling (107), notching his second first class century, and Gary Wilson (61) gave Ireland a perfect start to the day. Their 155 run opening partnership was headlined by Stirling's superb 116 ball hundered, compiled by 18 boundaries and 2 sixes.

With both openers departing early in the 2nd session, Canada fought back claiming 4 wickets and holding momentum until the 115 run partnership of Kevin O'Brien (79) & Alex Cusack (81) maintained the Irish advantage.

Canadian Captain Jimmy Hansra gave credit to the Irish batting but will look for a better effort from his bowlers.

"Ireland batted really well throughout the day ... Obviously there are some things that we have discussed internally and would like to see improvement upon tomorrow ... we can't take anything away the innings of Paul Stirling and Kevin O'Brien ... they were fluent."

09.13.11 | 10:20am EDT | At tea, Canada have fought back claiming 4 wickets in the 2nd session. Ireland, however, have maintained the advantage by continuing to score at almost 5 runs per over. An Alex Cusack (46) and Kevin O'Brien (32) 52 run partnership quelled the flow of wickets and the pair appear set to continue their agressive tone. Ireland are 288 / 4 from 62 overs.

09.13.11 | 9:25am EDT | Canada's Manny Aulakh has picked his maiden first class wicket rattling the off stump of Andrew Poynter. Ireland are 213/3 (50 overs). Canada are fighting their way back into this match.

09.13.11 | 8:00am EDT | Ireland's Paul Stirling and Gary Wilson have given Ireland a confident start at lunch under cool and blustering conditions. Scoring at over 4 runs per over the Irish pair have been largely untroubled in the first two hours of play smashing 19 boundaries for their unbeaten stand.

TOUR NOTEABLES

09.12.11 | 10:00am EDT | ICUP preparations for both teams have been affected by adverse weather conditions. Unusually high winds have meant practice was conducted indoors.FORECAST

09.09.11 | 1:00pm EDT | Canadian paceman Henry Osinde was unable to depart with the team from Toronto on Thursday evening due to an unspecified travel document issue.

The ICC has announced its qualification process for the 2015 Cricket World Cup to be co-hosted by Australia and NZ.

A reversal to its previous decision to remove associate nations from the tournament, the ICC will now provide two (2) pathways for the twelve (12) teams that will attempt to qualify for the four (4) available spots.

The top two (2) top ranked teams from the present ICC Associate ODI League will automatically qualify for the event, while the remainder of the ICC High Performance teams will be joined by the top two (2) ranked teams from World Cricket League's 2 & 3 in a ten (10) team qualifier.

Although this announcement is a positive step toward an inclusive view of world cricket, many associate nations are still disappointed by the ICC's decision to reduce the number of associate teams for the 2012 World T20 from six (6) to two (2) teams.

Canada’s Irish tour will officially commence tomorrow with its final Intercontinental Cup fixture of the year. The regular entanglement with highly rated Ireland is one of Canada’s best rivalries on the associate tour.

“ We’re upbeat and ready for the Irish. The conditions suit our swing bowlers and we have the ability to take twenty Irish wickets. ”

Hansra continued and discussed the depth of experience in his squad.

“ I’m happy with the young squad and its mix of senior experience in bowling and batting respectively. Everyone is focused and geared up for the series and we will put forth our best effort. “

Canada’s pace battery will be without veteran seamer Henry Osinde who was unable to depart with the touring party due to an unspecified travel document issue. As such, the responsibility of securing Canada’s bowling fortunes will be on the shoulders of Khurram Chohan and Harvir Baidwan. Promising Canadian u19 seamer Manny Aulakh is expected to make his first class debut and along with all-rounder Rizwan Cheema, will round out the seam quartet.
Ruvindu Gunasekera (59) and Hiral Patel (36) both got starts in Canada’s warm up match vs Leprechauns CC and will look to continue the trend.

TOUR NOTEABLES

09.12.11 | 10:00am EDT | ICUP preparations for both teams have been affected by adverse weather conditions. Unusually high winds have meant practice was conducted indoors.FORECAST

09.09.11 | 1:00pm EDT | Canadian paceman Henry Osinde was unable to depart with the team from Toronto on Thursday evening due to an unspecified travel document issue.